Wagner Prof's New Book on High Peforming Organizations Hits Shelves

During nearly six decades of research, the RAND Corporation has produced volumes of studies on organizational performance. In The Four Pillars of High Performance: How Robust Organizations Achieve Extraordinary Results, recently published by McGraw Hill, NYU Wagner Professor Paul Light examines a number of �robust organizations� across a wide range of business sectors, as well as in government, the military, and education.

Professor Ospina Speaks at Upcoming Conferences

"Emergin Approaches to Inquiry 10: Making a Difference Through Action Research", Annual Conference, Center for Action Research in Professional Practice (CARPP), School of Management, University of Bath, UK. September 15-18th, 2004 Hawkwook College, Straud, UK. Nonprofit Program of the School of Administration, ESADE, September 22, 2004, Barcelona, Spain.

Pamela Butler, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (NKI), has been awarded a 5-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to examine the fundamental visual processing deficits that may underlie the higher-level sensory and cognitive dysfunction that is often associated with schizophrenia.

Wagner Students Study Governors Island in Capstone Project

Over the 2003-2004 academic year, Wagner Urban Planning students completed a Capstone Project studying New York�s Governors Island. The transfer of Governors Island to the state of New York by the federal government in early 2003 marked an important moment in New York City's history to create an environment conducive to encouraging public activity and private investment as never before seen. For their Capstone project, students developed a plan to create a public space without outside financial support, in order to make Governors Island economically self-sustainable.

Rudin Center Studies Port Authority of New York and New Jerseys Value Pricing Initiative

Wagner�s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management is documenting the decision-making process leading up to and immediately following the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey�s implementation of value pricing, so as to derive lessons learned that could be utilized when implementing similar programs elsewhere. This research is part of a larger project assessing the efficacy of value pricing and changes in the toll schedule on Port Authority facilities.

Research Center for Leadership in Action to Host Public Sector Executive Briefing Series: Supporting High Performance Government

The Wagner School's Research Center for Leadership in Action (RCLA) has partnered with Accenture to co-host a four-part breakfast series for senior public sector managers to discuss the multiple managerial and leadership challenges of implementing large-scale change. Each Executive Briefing is organized around a central strategic and managerial question of particular relevance to large-scale change efforts. The series is designed to: 1) Create a networking environment that encourages the exchange of ideas among senior managers of complex change programs and those emerging leaders charged with undertaking similar efforts; 2) Encourage a cadre of new leaders interested in undertaking such challenges, providing them with the insights, learning and the collegial support that will help sustain their work over time; and 3) Promote further learning about how successful complex change initiatives are designed and managed. For more information about the Public Sector Executive Briefing Series, please visit www.wagnerbriefing.com.

IESP Publishes Evaluation of Chancellors District

In June 2004, the Institute for Education and Social Policy published Virtual District, Real Improvement: A Retrospective Evaluation of the Chancellor's District, 1996-2003. This study is a retrospective analysis of the outcomes of the Chancellor�s District, a virtual district created to improve New York City�s most poorly performing public schools. New York City Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew initiated the district in 1996 to remove state-identified low-performing schools from their sub-district authorities, and to accelerate their improvement by imposing a centralized management structure, a uniform curriculum, and intensive professional development. The initiative was terminated in 2003 when a new, Mayoral-controlled regime restructured the city school system.

ICIS Team to Develop Homeland Security Center of Excellence

Following September 11th, ICIS collaborated with dozens of institutions to support research on the implications of the attacks on public infrastructure services and the built environment to protect human welfare. Because of the ICIS partnership network (CMS 9728805) with the University of Southern California (USC) and Cornell University, public agency partners, and internationally known infrastructure professionals, ICIS contributed a team on critical infrastructure systems for the proposal for the first Homeland Security Center of Excellence, called the Homeland Security Center for Risk & Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. The team won the competition against over 70 other applicants. USC, a long-time ICIS partner, is the lead institution, and NYU Wagner/ICIS will lead the critical infrastructure assessments under the direction of Professor Rae Zimmerman, ICIS Director. The entire center is expected to receive $12 million in funding over the next 3 years, and will develop risk and economic modeling tools for terrorist events, using critical infrastructure as a major application area for those tools.

Furman Center Launches Housing and Neighborhoods Website

New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy is pleased to announce the launch of the New York City Housing and Neighborhood Information System (NYCHANIS), an interactive website that allows users to obtain data and information about New York City neighborhoods and create custom-made tables, charts, graphs, and maps. NYCHANIS is available for use at www.nychanis.com.

Study by Michael Yedidia and CHPSR Looks at Doctor-Patient Relationships

This research by Michael Yedidia, Wagner Research Professor of Public and Health Administration, investigates new ways of structuring doctor-patient relationships to promote patient-centered care by studying five innovative practices: 1) cancer self-help and advocacy because it offers new sources of support and shared authority among peers, 2) palliative care because it demands maintenance of trust while shifting the overall goal of care, 3) complementary medicine because it embraces approaches that rely upon disparate knowledge bases, 4) group visits for chronic illness care in managed care organizations because they draw upon shared experience and learning among peers, and 5) new communications curricula in medical education because they can prepare physicians to assume new roles with patients.

Call for Nominations: Leadership for a Changing World Award

Research Center for Leadership in Action at the Wagner School has a major responsibility in the Ford Foundation�s Leadership for a Changing World (LCW) awards program through its research effort that is building leadership theory by working with LCW Award Winners.